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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

It seems that as a musician, my life has revolved around taking auditions these past couple of years.

I mean, for most of us, that seems to be the norm in trying to make a career in this field.

Auditions and I... well, we have an odd relationship. I don't particularly hate or love taking auditions,, I guess the strongest feeling I have for auditions is something akin to annoyance than anything else because I feel like I'm perpetually preparing for one audition or another.. and I'm not even trying to land a job yet!

For example, all last fall, I worked my butt off trying to get ready for the pre-screening auditions for graduate programs. When that was done, I had to audition for summer programs that winter. When that was done, I had another round of auditions for graduate programs in late winter/spring! Then, we go to summer programs all summer where we have other auditions for orchestral seating and chamber group placements. When we come back to school, it's "welcome back! let's audition for orchestra seating and chamber music placements!" and then we have to get ready to apply for summer festivals all over again! It's never ending!!!!

Of course, this petty annoyance turns into a much more frightening psychological battle in the real world for many musicians.

For example, my friend Rachel posted this article for me to read a couple of months back, and well,, that's what's waiting for us as musicians in the real world, especially if we are trying to be orchestral musicians; so many of us, and so few job openings!

So far, I haven't had the kind of debilitating self doubt or audition-fright that's mentioned in the article, but I have also never auditioned for the Boston Symphony. Perhaps when the stakes are that high, I may also develop such unfortunate side effects, but hopefully not. It's a very serious problem many musicians have though, and I think one of the courses I am taking here at Rice is specifically designed to help us budding musicians to stunt the growth of such debilitating conditions. Of course, it's not necessarily termed in such a way, [How to Overcome Your Stage Fright! 101], but from looking at the syllabus and seeing how the class is being run, there's definitely that thread, just under the surface. But hey, no complaints from me here! I'll take all the tools and help I can get,,, I'll need it once I am forcibly kicked out of the nest (of the academia). because apparently I have to graduate,, and enter the real world sooner than later.. =( haha

So this week has been the "Hey! welcome back! let's audition!" week at Rice, and during my walks to and from school, I've just been musing about how different my life is now that I have chosen to do only music.

Being the nerd that I am, I have always loved school. Though I never really thought about it all that much when I was in the midst of studying for subjects like math, history, or science, now that I'm removed from that atmosphere, I am realizing that there's something really comforting about studying subjects like these (at least up until the college level. I can't speak for what they are like at the graduate level because I haven't experienced it) that is just not present in studying music.

One of the biggest comforts for me in studying these subjects was the fact that I could predict what the outcome will be like based on the amount of effort I had put into preparing for them. This is true for music, but only to a certain degree. There are just so many outside forces that can affect your performance that wouldn't even matter in an academic setting. For example, during the most recent audition I took, it started pouring rain and flooding as I started my way to walk over to the audition building from the rehearsal building. Thank you, Houston for being incredibly sunny with blue skies all day up until that moment... If you are ever auditioning in Houston, remember to bring an umbrella, no matter how ridiculously sunny it is outside. So I played my audition soaking wet and shivering. So this outside force (pretty petty, if you think about it... I just got rained on, no big deal, right?) that I had no control over ended up affecting my playing quite a bit.

Now, let us take a look at my AP Calculus test day. That morning, I woke up to my phone ringing in the most obnoxious way possible. I rolled over, thinking 'uggg why is someone calling me this early?!', and picked up the phone. It was my friend, Peter. "Janny! where are you? We're about to start our exam!" Thankfully, the test center was right next to my dorm, so I was able to roll out of bed and get there in a couple of minutes; just in time to sit down, fill out my information, and start. Granted, at first my brain was still asleep and I couldn't even remember how to solve something ridiculously simple like 'what is the derivative of X^2', I was prepared for the test and was able to ace the test by the end of the allotted time.

The second scenario had so many more awful things happening (no breakfast, brain still asleep, no snacks--I was most upset about this one haha--, freaking out about missing the test...) yet the outcome was such that I can laugh about it now. If I had inserted 'audition' for 'AP Calculus Test' in that scenario... I would probably be too scarred by the outcome (no matter how prepared I was) to even be speaking about it right now.

Also, in studying the academics, there's a sense of 'ok, I learned that, now let's move on'. For example, the alphabet. We all learned it. We mastered it. We moved on, and have never looked back. How absurd would it be if a college student said there's a class dedicated to learning the English alphabet at his university? Well, that's exactly what happens with music haha. I learned the scales when I first began playing the violin; I am still working on them now, and I shall be working on them until the day I die. yup yup.

But these absurdly difficult and volatile aspects of music does mean that every day will be 'interesting'... and no two days will be the same. One day, I nail these uber difficult passages, and the next day, I can't even play the scales 50% in tune... Once I sort of fix a crooked bow problem, I all of a sudden develop what my teacher Mr. Lin called a 'frog-phobia'... when did this happen?! sigh... it's never ending haha. Ok, so maybe it doesn't sound all that exciting when put in these terms... but there's something about the fact that I will always be striving to achieve something that I never will be able to achieve that is incredibly stimulating. That plus the beauty and the power of music,,, how can you say no? right? --let us just be idealists for a little while here ;)

Anyway, if you do have a bad audition, or just have a moment of 'man... how am I going to make it as a musician?' which all of us have at one time or another, Amulet and I suggest treating yourself to some frozen yogurt. =)

it worked for us! haha

The only downside to this is that we may be spending way too much time here,,, instead of, say, practicing haha ;)

Yay ice cream!!!

Well, I hadn't meant for it to become such a long post! haha. I was just more or less writing out my train of thought that began on my walk home on this incredibly hot and humid day.

and the ordering system is pretty fun as well, especially if you go during their busy hours;

they yell at you, and you yell back at them with what you want ;)

After you get your food (their chowder is a must try), you can sit outside by the lake and feed the seagulls french fries!

Don't worry, it may not be the healthiest for them, but the Seattle seagulls have probably evolved differently in order to allow them to survive on french fries;

they just flock to Ivar's for their meal!

8. Gas Works Park

If you feel the need to burn off the fish and chips that you consumed at Ivar's,

Gas Works Park is the perfect place to do so!

It used to be an oil refinery, I believe, but instead of tearing everything down,

they decided to keep everything and make it into a park!

I think it has a post-apocalypse-esq feeling ;)

It's fun strolling around among the 'ruins' and enjoying the Seattle skyline.

When we visited, there was also this drum circle happening! pretty awesome!

9. Chittenden Locks

Seattle is famous for its salmon, and if you are interested in seeing large salmon climbing up the salmon ladder, this is the place to go.

Unfortunately, we missed the closing time by a minute (literally) but we still got to see some salmon passing by through the door!

10. The Underground Tour

If you are a history nerd like me (and even if you aren't), the Seattle Underground Tour is worth going on at least once.

I've been on it 4 times now, and I think that is a bit excessive, but the tour guides are really entertaining!

You get to hear pretty hilarious stories about the beginning of this wonderful city called Seattle, which apparently began among such noble acts like much drinking, much prostitution, and much corruption.

Perhaps that's why everyone in Seattle is so chill?

I love this city ;)

Also, you'll hear why it is that the 'streets' that we walk on in Seattle connect to not the 1st floor of the buildings you see, but the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th floors of the buildings!!

Also, if you go into the gift shop, they have some really fun knick knacks to browse through.

For example, we found this book, The Art of Kissing: Tips and Techniques from the 1930s.

Approved Methods of Kissing, eh?? ;)

apparently, the manner in which the kiss is performed is vitally important.

I figured I shouldn't spoil it for the book, but if you feel like knowing how to kiss 1930s style,

check this book out! hahaha

The 4 of us had a lot of fun giggling over it.

I mean, what else would you expect?

11. Go eat at Serious Pie

the pizza here? so. good!

and you can see them firing it up in the fire oven as you walk in!

what I thought was really cool was that they seat you wherever there's room on this long table,

so you actually end up sitting next to random strangers!

Perhaps you wouldn't want that if you were on a first date or something,

but we had fun getting to meet people sitting around us =)

12. Bottega Italiana.

Gelato.

If there's one thing I can never say 'no' to, it would be any frozen dessert.

Ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, shaved ice, gelato...

you name it, and I will have it any time of the day, any time of the year.

Bottega Italiana is located next to the Pike Place Market, and their gelato is SO good!!

Strawberry Basil was my favorite ;)

13. The Cinebarre

This is only for the 21 and older crowd, since it is a mix between a movie theater and a bar.

But it's so cool because it has a row of chairs and then a row of tables,

so you can eat and drink as you watch any movie of your choosing.

The crowd is fun too since everyone is over 21, and mostly around the same age,

it's never crowded, and the atmosphere is a little more casual;

I mean, everyone is eating and laughing along with the movie,

so we never have to worry about being too quiet.

Linda and I visited it to watch the new Batman movie (which was AMAZING),

and when Garrett, a childhood friend of ours from Aurora, NE, came to visit,

we went again to watch Hope Springs.

Talk about the most awkward hilarity ever. =)

Last, but not least,,

14. Shopping!!!!!

Linda and I visited the Seattle Outlet Mall twice on this trip,

and the second time just so that we can go get these lovelies.

We had seen them the previous trip, but decided against buying them.

However, we just could not get them out of our heads!

The golden beauty was my birthday present from Linda!

Thanks friend!! You the best!! ;)

It was so good to see Linda and hang out together in Seattle.

It was a break both of us needed quite desperately,

and I really appreciated the chance to spend some quality time with her before we left for our respective schools for the year.

Linda is attending Columbia University it NYC, and I am SO proud of her! =D

She's going to be a chemical engineer!! woot woot!!

Though I am incredibly happy for her,

I can't help but being a bit sad that she'll be so so far away...

NYC to Houston is 1627 miles!!

Ah well, I guess I'll just have to go visit NYC =p

no complaints from me there! haha

Well, thanks for reading about our Seattle adventures!

It is a truly lovely city, and I do hope that you will get to visit and experience it sometime.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Today was day 3 of orientation at Rice, and I can really feel the excitement building up!

But before I launch into everything new that is happening, I just wanted to take a minute and reminisce about Seattle a lil bit ;) Especially because Linda and I did so many fun things that I never got to share with all of you!

If you are ever in Seattle, I recommend doing alll of these things!! =D

1. Visit the Deception Pass

It is located about an hour and a half north of Seattle, and though it is a little far,

we unanimously agreed that it was completely worth it when we got there.

I mean, look at these views!

It is one of the most beautiful sights I have seen.

There are also many opportunities to frolic by the beach or during the hike.

A couple of the things we enjoyed were climbing boulders and throwing rocks when some sign tells you to not do so. haha (don't worry, we didn't actually throw them)

The best part?

the summit.

you can sit on a ledge and just chill thousands of feet above the ocean and the trees.

The view is really breathtaking.

2. Golden Gardens Park

If it is above 80 degrees, and you are in Seattle, that means you have GOT to go to the beach.

Why? because you'll only get that temperature for a couple of days out of the year.

tanning season in Seattle is very short, so when it comes, you have to take advantage of it ;)

but beware,,, the water is still freezing!!

3. Visit Queen Anne.

Queen Anne is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Seattle, and it is a darling little place.

I mean, it has things like this ice cream bike! So cute!

also, it has one of my favorite coffee shops.

mostly because of this wall,, boooookkksss!!!

Though I mean, I think the coffee is pretty good there as well. I just am not an expert coffee person, so I can't say if it's really top notch or not.

There's also this really awesome sandwich shop called Homegrown.

It's definitely a must-try =)

4. Cook at home using incredibly fresh ingredients from various farmer's markets.

Well, this is pretty self explanatory ;)

5. Visit Molly Moor's.

Best. Ice cream. Ever.

so. good.

Especially after a night of dancing at a near by swing club ;)

6. Visit Color Me Mine.

It is a paint-yourself pottery studio in Mill Creek, WA.

It's about half an hour north of Seattle, and there are others that are closer.

We chose this one though because they said they could fire our mugs and have them ready to go in 2 days!

That was crucial since we were flying out in 3 days haha

It was so much fun, and both Linda and I highly recommend the place ;)

oh wow.. this is getting to be rather long haha!

So I will continue with more of our adventures in a different post soon.